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Business Building Project

Kerry Steingraber

Intern– Dallas/Ft. Worth

July 25, 2012

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Background

Research

Results

Summary of the Data

SWOT Analysis

The BIG Idea

Strategy

Appendix

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Table of Contents

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Introduction Main Idea Find a way to increase in store presence of Purina brands by taking advantage of unique opportunities. The purpose of this project is to increase sales and provide more information to employees (cashiers, groomers, trainers, etc.) as well as customers to help push the product when representatives cannot be present in stores. As an example, I will focus on the Pro Plan business in my Petco accounts.

Why is it necessary? Through my own experience in stores, I’ve realized that while many of the managers are well educated on the products, many of the employees in the store don’t have an in depth understanding of the different products. Because our main interaction in stores is with the managers directly, this project focuses on creating relationships with other personnel who may also be helpful in pushing product. This will be useful when customers come in asking for recommendations and typically go to the first employee they see.

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Background

Territory Overview Total sales volume per year: $11,029,552 Total sales this year to date: $3,806,856 Sales have increased 13% TYTD compared to last year 30 total stores

23 PetSmart 7 Petco

Looking back to my first summer project After creating a project which analyzed my individual territory for the summer, I recognized an opportunity in Petco. An analysis of Key Brands showed declining sales of Pro Plan across 5 of the 7 Petco accounts that I am responsible for. Only one account had increased Pro Plan sales, with the 7th account being a new store with no numbers for comparison. Meanwhile, 20 of my 23 PetSmart accounts had increased Pro Plan sales compared to last year to date.* These numbers showed a need for figuring out a way to help boost Pro Plan sales in Petco and became the base of my Business Building Project.

*Data located in Appendix A

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Learning more about my accounts Before developing an idea to move forward with this opportunity, I created a survey to get a better understanding for the reason behind Pro Plan suffering in Petco. After first speaking with managers, I learned they are trained to direct customers to natural food right away. Realizing this, it was clear that I needed to learn more about what other employees in the store were recommending to customers and why.

I created a questionnaire and distributed it to employees at my Petco stores to survey their knowledge on the Pro Plan variety and gauge whether they thought it was a quality food and find out more about the interactions with customers. A copy of this survey can be found in Appendix B. Results were collected from 14 employees (cashiers, groomers, trainers).

Research

“I always send my

customers over to the

natural section. We’re trained

to bring them over there, but I

also feel confident that it’s

quality food.”

-Petco Manager

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Results

Would you recommend Pro Plan to customers?

Are you aware of the nutritional value of Pro Plan?

When picking a dog food, what is most important to a customer? (Select all that apply)

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Nutritional Value Price Promotions Brand

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Summary of the Data

“I think most customers see the dog food as a good value but

overall they are looking for the natural brands and don’t

associate health with Pro Plan.

-Petco Employee

Room for Opportunities Although 93% of employees circled that they would not recommend Pro Plan to customers, 86% of them also circled that they were not aware of the nutritional value. This shows a major discrepancy and a huge opportunity to educate the employees on what our product has to offer. Furthermore, 10 of the 14 employees stated they would be more likely to recommend Pro Plan if they had more information about it.

Analyzing the Customers Needs An overwhelming majority of participants selected nutritional value as they main factor customers consider when picking their dog food followed by price and then brand. Despite nobody choosing promo-tions, all participants agreed that a coupon would be helpful in persuad-ing customers to try a new product.

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Association with Purina brand

Health benefits

Competitive Pricing

Work through store employees to educate customers even when reps aren’t in the store

Consumers

thinking natural means healthier

Managers pushing consumers towards natural

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

In store information sessions provided by demo representatives of competitors

SWOT Analysis

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The Big Idea Create awareness in stores through employee’s A feasible solution to the problem at hand is to create an in store presence without having to actually be in the store. A major threat that came to my attention through the survey was the competition who had demo representatives visiting stores on weekends to inform customers about their product. Because Nestle Purina representatives do not always conduct demos, we need to find a way to spread information about Pro Plan without the face to face interaction.

Employee informational sessions

Informational flyers placed throughout stores

Booklets left at register/products left in grooming & training areas

Coupons to be handed out after a grooming

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Strategy Employee informational sessions & information

flyers At the end of each store visit, look for an employee who is free for a few minutes to talk. Ask them about their knowledge of Pro Plan and offer to fill in the blanks.

I found many employees focus on only the “negative” ingredients without paying much attention to the benefits of each ingredient. By spending a few minutes with them at the end of a call, they will have the product information fresh in their mind and can relay it to customers. Many are surprised by some of the benefits that come from ingredients they had previously frowned upon. The flyer shown in appendix C is an example of what will be given to employees and placed around stores to demonstrate nutritional value.

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Strategy

Coupons handed out after services

Based on the survey that I con-ducted, a large majority of managers and employees agreed that a coupon would help encourage customers to try a new product. I believe a coupon coupled with nutritional information about Pro Plan will provide the push necessary to get customers to try something new.

Booklets left at register While many stores are strict on floor stacks and incremental displays being built against the plan-o-gram, many managers told me they would be willing to leave booklets at the register for customers to take while they check out.

Because Purina reps can’t provide the physical in store presence that many of our competitors have, this will allow the information to still reach the customer. Also, aim to build displays in unique locations (ie. Grooming salons, training areas, etc.)

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Appendix

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ACCT Indx - ProPlan

PETsMART 1058 109.

PETsMART 1070 120.

PETsMART 1104 102.

PETsMART 1110 114.

PETsMART 1122 113.

PETsMART 1242 100.

PETsMART 1279 124.

PETsMART 1280 121.

PETsMART 1281 117.

PETsMART 1282 113.

PETsMART 1550 130.

PETsMART 1551 110.

PETsMART 1728 110.

PETsMART 178 105.

PETsMART 181 96.

PETsMART 187 114.

PETsMART 190 104.

PETsMART 1954 99.

PETsMART 1966 131.

PETsMART 2064 126.

PETsMART 2065 122.

PETsMART 620 105.

PETsMART 622 98.

PETCO 1458 88.

PETCO 2406 0.

PETCO 432 105.

PETCO 441 89.

PETCO 474 85.

PETCO 495 95.

PETCO 497 80.

Appendix A

The chart to the right shows

the index numbers for Pro

Plan in my PetSmart and

Petco accounts for this year to

date compared with last year

to date.

Overall, PetSmart is

performing well, whereas

Petco shows a lot of room for

improvement.

A more detailed explanation

can be found in the first

summer project provided to

you.

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Pro Plan Questionnaire

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey based on your experience in store. Your responses

will be kept anonymous and will only be used for research purposes.

Is there a specific brand or variety of dog food you recommend to customers? If so, what brand/

variety and why?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Have you had any customers inquire about Pro Plan? Yes No

Would you suggest Pro Plan to a customer? Yes No

Are you aware of the nutritional value of Pro Plan? Yes No

Would you be more likely to recommend Pro Plan if you had more information about the product?

Yes No

Do you think Pro Plan is priced competitively? Yes No

Do you think a coupon would be helpful in persuading people to try a new brand?

Yes No

When picking a dog food, what is most important to a consumer?

Nutritional Value

Price

Promotions

Have many of your customers heard of the Pro Plan variety? Yes No

If you have a dog, what food do you currently feed it? __________________________________

If you have any additional comments regarding Pro Plan and your attitude towards the variety,

please express them here:

____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________\

Thank you for your time in completing this survey!

Appendix B

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Appendix C

The following 2 pages show examples of flyers that

could be laminated and placed strategically around

Petco locations to help educate both employees and

customers.

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What you need to know when choosing the best food for your pet

Real Meat Quality Grains No artificial colors or

preservatives

Inside every bag of Purina Pro Plan

Chicken Turkey Lamb Beef

Salmon

Brewers Rice Barley Corn

Wheat

Recommended by more breeders than any other pet

food

1-800-PRO-PLAN | www.proplan.com

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Westminster Best in Show the last 5 years

94 out of the top 100 Westminster dogs

are fed Pro Plan or Selects

Pro Plan has swept the

7 best in group competitions the last two

years

Do more.

Inside every good dog is a

GREAT dog

Quality ingredients with a purpose.

Pro Plan Ingredients Competition Ingredients

Chicken Chicken Meal

Brewer’s Rice Ground Rice

Whole Grain Wheat Rice Flour

Poultry by product meal Brown Rice

Corn gluten meal Chicken

Beef Tallow Poultry Fat

Oatmeal

1 Real Meat Source | 3 Different Carb Sources | Stable Fat Source

*See reverse for more details on

ingredients

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Corn is not a “filler” in pet food. Digestible carbohydrate Source of essential fatty

acids Provides energy to help

supply glucose needs Supply protein

Both plant AND animal sources of protein can be used to develop a quality food. One protein source does not contain all necessary

amino acids

Using a mix of plant and animal ensure correct pro-portions of protein.

Quality Grains Purina uses only top

quality grains

All shipments of grain are tested for nutrient levels and toxins upon arrival

Approved suppliers ONLY

550 dogs & 300 cats make the decisions One million observations per year Palatability & Digestibility studies

Reproduction/Growth/Geriatric studies

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Appendix D